The Nathans family lived with one or two maids in a rather big house. Willem Michiel Nathans was a lawyer. Rosa Erna Weijl was a housewife. Willem Nathans came from an orthodox family. When his father died he let go of all religion. He did remain an active member of the Jewish community however. Rosa Weijl came from a non-religious family. The Shabbat was not celebrated in the Nathans family. When in the thirties many German-Jewish refugees came to the Netherlands, Willem Nathans tried to help in legal matters. He and his wife thought of emigrating to the United States, but the documents of the family members who vouched for them got lost underway.
A few days after the invasion Willem Nathans was arrested by the Germans. He was on the list of people who had to be arrested immediately after the Netherlands surrendered. It was unclear why exactly. Presumably the Germans thought he worked for the allied intelligence. He spent six or seven weeks in a prison in Münster, before he came home again.
USC Shoah Foundation, USC-SF nr. 30830 (interview Marcel Nathans)